Keeping ammo in the car.

[Troy26]

A friend of mine wanted to go shooting after work yesterday. I had the gun in teh case in my trunk, but would have had to stop and pick up some ammo. I started thinking that maybe I should jsut keep a box in the car for such an occasion, but then I wondered if it could be dangerous in the summertime. Is it possible for it to get hot enough in the car to cook off a round or two?

 

[dakotasin]

never had it happen to me - i keep guns and ammo in the vehicles year-round (guns/ammo subject to change depending on the season, though; deer season = sporter rifles in magnum chamberings, prairie dog season - most of the year - ar-15's and a few hundred rounds, etc).

 

[Marshall]

My center console has speedloaders in it year round.

 

[wrangler5]

I think I've seen pictures of large quantities of ammuntion in metal cans stacked in the sun on Pacific islands in the early 1940s, and don't recall hearing that it blew up (unless shot or bombed by the Japanese.)

 

[f4t9r]

In the car year around , no problem

 

[XLMiguel]

In the car year around , no problem

+1
Depending on where you live [i.e., humidity, condensation], a proper ammo can with a rubber gasket might make sense, but otherwise, as long as you aren't talking years & years, no problem.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Is it possible for it to get hot enough in the car to cook off a round or two?

Only if your car is on fire.

 

[45crittergitter]

I've kept some in my truck, both cab and body compartment for years (decades?) with no problems, EXCEPT my .22 rimfire ammo that was kept in the truck had significantly more failures to fire than home-kept .22s. I suspect that this was due to vibration shaking the priming compound out of the rim. Consequently, I wonder if vibration, not heat/cold/humidity, may be a concern. FWIW, I still keep centerfire in my truck long term, but not rimfire. The obvious answer is to shoot it all up before it gets that old.....

 

[Ala Dan]

I think it might be more dangerous to leave a) gun and b) ammo for said
gun in your car; as nowdays some perp might take both and use it on
you~!

 

[JohnKSa]

It's not good for the ammo. As one poster mentioned, it can cause the powder/primer to degrade over time. I'd swap it out every few months for maximum reliability.

It won't cook off.

 

[BIGR]

I keep ammo of different calibers in my truck year round and haven't had any problems.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Ammunition by nature is designed to handle the heat and cold pretty well just buy the quality stuff and stay away from the old war stockage stuff. Why aggravate primer corrosion, bullet surface corrosion from the old ammo. General rule of thumb is to buy U.S. made Ammo and you shouldn't have a problem with it. Keep the dust wiped off if you keep it on strips. It's been suggested on this thread to get an ammo can with a seal on the cover opening which is good advice.

 

[dmallind]

Not wanting to thread hijack, and I'm 95% sure I'm fine anyway, but just to clear up my 5% level of worry due to my relative inexperience, is there any negative effects of keeping boxed ammo in an unheated garage in MN, where winter temperatures can reach quite a bit below zero (say -30 F)?

BTW the garage is locked and secure and in a low crime area. Nobody to my knowledge knows there is ammo in it, and I keep it out of sight in a cabinet. Besides I suspect they'd steal the thousands of dollars worth of other stuff first, so my concerns are limited to degradation not theft.

The thing that has me a mite worried is will the transition from extreme cold to a heated car for 15 minutes, then loading and firing, cause any condensation to form and cause issues? I don't think the cold itself can hurt brass, lead or copper too much

 

[Lennyjoe]

I've had ammo in the car for months during the summer time. If it don't cook off in Arizona in the summer, it aint gonna anywhere else unless the car is on fire.

I personally prefer not to leave ammo/guns in my vehicles, (gives bad guys access to my weapons) but thats for another thread.

 

[TallPine]

All of my vehicles and even the camper trailer have a little ammo stash in them ... you just never know when you might need it

Not to mention the ammo stashes around the house and property - I'm not sure even I could find all of it right now

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

The Army certainly doesn't mind sending soldiers to fight a war in 30 below weather so why shouldn't you be able to store your ammo and shoot it in 30 below temperatures. The U.S. Goveronment has Ammo caches in Europe that have been around for decades, do you think those caches or bunkers are heated? Heck no. Common sense should prevail though, just make sure that you buy the good stuff and rotate your stock if you live past 100. . I would be more worried about what kind of lube you use on those pea shooters you have up there.

 

[armedandsafe]

I stored ammo outside when I lived in Alaska, North of the Circle. The coldest it got was -60 and about 70 in the summer. I stored ammo outside in Southern Nevada and Arizona. The hottest it got was +120. No problems in either case.

Pops

 

[sm]

Ammo lasts longer and for more miles than a lot of stuff my truck goes thru...belts , hoses, tires...

I bought a new truck in '93 and in the first week I had it, I stuck a brick of Winchester XLR22 , some shotgun shells and 45 ACPammo in it.

Over the years, all the ammo has fired at one time or another. I have one maybe two boxes of that .22 ammo left. Last box I fired, fired just fine with no hiccups.

Replace ammo every 13 years or 135K miles

 

[sm]

Ammo fires fine...it is the keyboards that hit "submit" twice you to worry about...*oops*

 

[aaronrkelly]

I keep an SKS and 200 rounds of ammo in the trunk of my car year around - the summers in Iowa can reach over 100 degrees. No problems to date.

 

[Meplat]

A friend of mine wanted to go shooting after work yesterday. I had the gun in teh case in my trunk, but would have had to stop and pick up some ammo. I started thinking that maybe I should jsut keep a box in the car for such an occasion, but then I wondered if it could be dangerous in the summertime. Is it possible for it to get hot enough in the car to cook off a round or two?

American Rifleman did a series of articles several years back in which they attempted to "cook off" some .30-06 rounds using a propane torch, a screen made up of corrugated paper board, and then bullet resistant glass through which to view the whole process. The best they managed to do was to melt the lead bullets and ignite to powder inside in a Pfffttt! burning fashion in most cases. The few they managed to "cook off" had the flame applied directly to the primers, and even then, didn't manage to penetrate a full thickness of "cardboard" box material. I don't think I'd be overly concerned about small quantities of shoulder held weapon ammo "cooking off", althogh I do know that one CAN, if persistent, "cook off" .22 rounds (no, I'm not going to repeat that story), but I suspect it is because of the way the primer is dispersed around the rim, and perhaps in the composition of the primer compound itself. Either way, it takes MUCH higher temps than any car other that the Devil's is likely to be exposed to.

What I'd be more concerned about is having loose ammo in my vehicle if you ever have to go onto Weyerhaeuser, Conoco, UniRoyal (or rather the folks who bought UniRoyal out) or other's property on business. All of the above, and I'm sure many others, have a strict policy on the possession of firearms or ammunition on their properties. As a frequent reloader, shooter (former competitive and incorrigible plinker) I constantly had loose ammo in my glove box, etc. All perfectly legal in my state, UNTIL I drove onto one of these prohibited areas.

 

[Bill2k1]

My biggest ammo fear in the car is that a shotshell will somehow roll under the brake and I won't be able to stop.